Campaign of the Month:
June 2012

Crimson Skies

Hero Token Burns

[Harmless] means the DM doesn’t get the token; [Risky] means the DM does.

Cheat Death [Risky] 3 Tokens Burned

Great heroes seem to get second chances. This ability is just that – you immediately and totally negate something that just happened to your character. As far as you’re concerned, it simply didn’t happen. (Other characters targeted by the same effect still must suffer the consequences normally, however.) Note that in some instances, this ability may not be able to undo an entire event, just prevent associated damage or other negative consequences. For example, if the floor collapses underneath your character, you may not be able to avoid falling along with it – unless you can fly, are near something you could leap to and grab, etc. – but you will definitely avoid taking damage as a result. Lastly, some rare events are so colossal that even this effect may not be able to block them – a titanic meteorite obliterating an entire continent, for instance, or the direct wrath of a deity. In those events, the best this ability might be able to offer is that your character can possibly be resurrected later, rather than being totally and irrevocably obliterated. Hey, sometimes you take what you can get! You may use this ability more than once per session, assuming you can pay the cost. However, each subsequent use during a single session suffers from some "diminishing returns,” in order to preserve game balance. The second time Cheat Death is used, the effect is not outright ignored, but treated as though you made a successful save (even if none is allowed), you take minimum damage from melee attacks and the like, or otherwise are injured but not nearly so badly. The third time Cheat death is used, your character is out of the fight, the character is left alive, with negative hit points but stable, and remains that way provided the situation doesn’t make it impossible for any character to have survived (such a meteor strike).

Determined Re-initiate [Risky] 1 Token Burned

You can burn 1 hero token to gain an additional standard action. This action must be taken before the end of your current turn of actions.

Divine Insight [H/R] 1 Token Burned

By burning one hero token, you gain +20 to your next d20 roll. You may never use this to add 20 to damage. If the action performed is in combat, it is [Risky], otherwise it is considered [Harmless].

I Heard That… [Harmless] 1 Token Burned

Burn one token to declare something about the setting, an NPC, a monster or another plot element. (Not another PC – you don’t need hero tokens for them, just their agreement.) Whatever you say becomes fact. You cannot contradict previously established facts, though you can potentially introduce exceptions, embellishments or additions. It must be in the past tense, and cannot be used to directly conjure up items or individuals. For instance, you could declare that it’s well-known in the criminal underworld that the guards in the city jail take bribes, but not that you’ve already bribed them. If it is a particularly powerful, rule-related change – such as allowing the PCs to deal large amounts of extra damage to enemies – it may become [Risky], and even cost more than 1 token. A change may be vetoed if the GM knows it might harm the structure of the adventure; if that happens, and that’s rare, you get your chips back.

Missed Me By That Much [Risky] 1 Token Burned

Burn one token when an opponent confirms a critical threat upon you, before the results of the critical are determined. The strike is not only no longer considered a critical, the strike misses entirely.

Name Dropping [Harmless] 1 Token Burned

Burn one token to raise your Reputation by one for the rest of the current story. You may repeat this no more than twice per story.

Not As Ugly As I Thought [Risky] 1 Token Burned

Burn one token to reroll a failed Sanity check. You must accept the second roll. You may only reroll once per encounter.

You Must Be Mistaken [Harmless] 1 Token Burned

Burn one token to lower your Reputation by one for the rest of the current story. You may repeat this no more than twice per story.